NAHL, NAPHL alum Copley gets call to the NHL

January 12, 2015

Former NAHL and NAPHL goalie Pheonix Copley got a call up to the NHL this past weekend.

The Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) have recalled former NAHL Corpus Christi IceRays and former NAPHL California Titans goaltender Pheonix Copley from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, Capitals senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced this past weekend.

Copley, 22, played 11 games with the Bears this season, recording a 6-3-1 record with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. The North Pole, Alaska native earned his first career win in his AHL debut on Oct. 13 against the Norfolk Admirals, saving 29 of 31 shots. Copley posted his first AHL shutout in a 15-save effort on Oct. 19 against the Hartford Wolfpack and stopped 26 shots in his next start on Oct. 26 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to earn his second career shutout. He signed with Washington as a free agent on March 19, 2014.

The 6-foot-4, 196-pound goaltender appeared in 42 games with the Corpus Christi IceRays in 2010-11, recording a 14-23-4 record with a 4.17 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage.

Prior to his arrival in the NAHL, Copley played in the NAPHL during the inaugural 2009-10 season for the California Titans 18U team, who finished 1st overall during the regular season and won the inaugural NAPHL 18U Playoff Championship that season.

Copley also played NCAA Division I hockey at Michigan Tech for two seasons. In 54 games with the Huskies, Copley earned a 18-28-7 record with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage. Following his sophomore season, the former IceRay and Titan joined the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL and played three games to close the 2013-14 season.